Adjustable cardholder support



Feb. 5, 1952 5, J, D M 2,584,179

ADJUSTABLE CARD HOLDER SUPPORT Filed March 19, 1948 Patented Feb. 5, 1952 Stephen J. Adams, Swoyersville Borough, Luzerne County, Pa.,. assignor of one-half MM. .1. Kane,

Wilkes-Barre, Pa.

-Appli'cation. March 19, 1948, Serial. No; 15,885

2: Claims.

- The. invention relates to: an adjustable card support or holder designed for convenient use as: atemporary support for a card or other light weight reference material inassembly halls,

auditoriums and the'like where persons are prone v to congregate for observance.- of various educational, religious, or other social, functions.

A principal object of. the: invention isto provide a card holder or support: oi sturdy light. weight construction which may be readily collapsed to occupy'a minimum of space when not in-use, and

.which may be; readily manually extended and adjusted; as desired for removable attachment to the backs of various types of. chairs commonly used in such public gathering places. For example the invention is capable of being used toadvantage in playing. the game of Bingo in church auditoriums, halls. and basements. For this purpose the device may be attached to and supported by the back of a chair for use in sup porting in substantially horizontal, position. a Bingo card or similar game board for theconvenient use of a person occupying the: chair im-- mediately in the rear of the. chair to which the improvement. is. removably secured.

'lfheimproved device is equally adapted for use to advantage for other comparable purposes or forms of education or. entertainment wherein it is desired to support various types of lightweight cards, pads, pamphlets, note books or programs for the use and' convenience of the person occupying the chair facing. thev chair back. to which the invention is attached.

The improved device is designedto be constructed of light. weight sheetv metal, plastic or other appropriate and preferably flexible. ma.- terial, and is composed of a minimum number of working parts which when assembled, may be extended for use. asv a. support and thereafter collapse into a rather small space for packaging or storing in a cardboard box-or other'appropriate protective receptacles.

The material of which the device. is constructed is preferably of a character which may be distorted or readily bent into: proper form for secure, non-slipping engagement with appropriate portions of chair backs ofvarious and well known types which are commonly found in the described localities where the instant invention is designed to be used for the convenience of the patrons. Also the improvement is designed for economical production in bulk at relatiyely low manufacturing cost.

Numerous other objects and: advantages. of the invention will be apparent as-it is better girders stood from the. following description, which, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, discloses a preferred embodiment thereof.

Referring to the drawings:

Fig. 1 is av perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the. invention in extended position illustrated as removably engaged. with or attached to the back of a folding chair of. awell known conventional design.

Fig. 2 is a plan View of the holder or support in extended or partially expanded position, also is-illustrated in Fig. 1.. r

Fig. 3 is a side or edge view of the holder.

Fig. i. is an enlarged detail sectionalv view on line 4 4 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 5- is a similar View on line 5-5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a view similar to Fig. 2 showing the improved holder or support in folded or collapsed position for shipment or storage. 7

Referring to the. drawings. thevdevice in its preferred embodiment essentially comprises a pair of similar side supporting. members or strip elements It and L! preferably composed of light weight metal or plastic, but. which obviously may be constructed of wood or other appropriate light weight material-V ifv desired.

At their forward endsth e. said strips are each bent. or extended upwardly as at I2 and thence curved outwardly at l3 to constitutea forward depending terminal extension I4 spaced. from the upstanding portion l2; so as to constitute hooks for removable engagementv with the back or rail member. If: of. a chair C, illustrated for example as. of the conventional light weight folding variety.

A-. series of intermediate interconnected link members It are pivotally connected together at I! inthe; manner of a lazy tongs, the. outer ends of. a pair of. connected links being in. turn pivotally connected as at is .to the aforesaid side strip members. Ill and H A. second. pair of connected. link members [.6 are. respectively pivotally connected as at H at theirouter ends to the side members Hiand H respectively, said latter mentioned pivotal connections 19 being also slidably' mounted elongated slots or. recessesZB' formed in the said strip members. 7

One or more of the said pivotal connections i'l', l8, It." may be off the' relatively soft mushroom rivet characterrtoafford: sufiicient friction to guard against undue undesired loosenessin the structure, while: permitting its expansion-and contraction as". desired into extendedi vorfolded position:

When the side members l and I I of the holder are moved towards or away from one another to collapse or extend the holder, it will be obvious that the pivotal connections l9 are thus caused to slide within the elongated slots 2!! to accommodate the pivotal movement of the links in opposite directions, when the device is so manipulated, as will be readily apparent.

When in extended position and attached to a chair back as shown in Fig. 1, the main supporting portion of the device is in substantially horizontal position, also as seen in Fig. 3, to serve as a firm support for a Bingo card A or other light weight pamphlet or documentary material, generally indicated by dotted lines in Fig. 1.

Since the side strip members l0 and II are preferably formed of relatively flexible or ductile material, it will be apparent that the hook portions I 2, I4 at their forward ends may be pressed or manipulated by hand so as to fit over and engage for card or manuscript supporting purposes, different types of chair backs of vary ing structural configuration but commonly found in churches, assembly halls and other meeting places in conjunction with which the present invention is designed to be employed. For example the improvement is designed to be readily installed for temporary use in a church by hooking the forward end of the support over the rear wall of the pew.

For protective purposes and to insure against scratching or marring the furniture, the forward or hooked ends of the support may be encased if desired in a suitable protective covering of rubber, leather or fabric, as indicated in dotted lines at 2| in Fig. 3.

From the foregoing it will be apparent that the support may be quickly folded or collapsed for transportation, storage or packaging within a relatively small space, as best shown in Fig. 6. Also when laterally extended into its supporting position the holder may be variably expanded as desired within limits permitted by the movably mounted pivoted links so as to most effectively fit and conform itself to chair backs of varying widths. For the purpose of temporarily holding the device in its desired extended position, one or both of the pivotal connections 19 may constitute a bolt or screw member 22 having threaded engagement with a wing nut 23 as best illustrated in Fig. 4 to releasably clamp the device against undesired expanding or contracting movement within the side member slots or recesses 20 when the holder has been extended to its desired card supporting position in accordance with operating conditions.

While the supports 10 and l l and links l6 have been illustrated in the form of flat strip elements, the improvement contemplates forming these elements of various thickness or light weight channeled I-beam, T-bar or L-bar configuration in cross section, as will be obvious in order to meet various manufacturing requirements or conditions.

When in assembled position on a chair back it will be apparent that the spaced flexible and yieldable upstanding and depending hook portions l2 and 14 of the strip members I!) and II,

'will engage opposite surfaces of the chair back in such manner as to prevent appreciable tilting movement of the adjustable device from its card supporting position, and is effectively held by such hooks from other than intentional displacement or lifting from the chair or other support. When employed for the herein described desirable purpose of supporting a "Bingo card or board, the player occupying the chair immediately in the rear of the chair to which the improvement is attached, may conveniently manipulate the movable checker pieces in accordance with the progress of the game without being subjected to the objectionable necessity of holding the card upon the knees or lap while the game is in progress.

It is thought that the invention and many of its attendant advantages will be understood from the foregoing description, and it will be apparent that various changes may be made in the form, construction and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention or sacrificing all of its material advantages, the form hereinbefore described being merely a preferred embodiment thereof.

What is claimed is:

1. A card holder for chair backs and church pews, comprising a pair of parallel side members, each member having at one end thereof an integral angularly extending hook, the angle being other than a right angle, said hook consisting of continuously connected upstanding and depending portions, an elongated slot in each side member at the end thereof adjacent said hook, pairs of link elements pivotally connected at their centers, each pair of link elements being also pivotally connected at one end thereof, the ends of one pair of link elements being pivotally connected to the ends of said side members remote from said hook, the ends of the other pair of link elements being slidably and pivotally connected to said side member slots.

2. A card holder for chair backs and church pews, comprising a pair of parallel side members each having an integral angularly extending hook at one end thereof, said hook including continuously connected upstanding and depending portions, an elongated slot in each of said side members at one end thereof, a plurality of pairs of link elements each composed of individual links pivotally connected together intermediate their opposite ends, one link of each outermost pair of link elements being pivotally secured at its outer end to the end of the adjacent side member remote from said slot, the corresponding outer ends of the remaining links of each outermost pair of link elements being slidably and pivotally connected to the aforesaid slots respectively, whereby said card holder may be extended and removably attached by said hooks to a chair back or church pew and removed therefrom and laterally compressed to collapse the holder into compact position.

STEPHEN J. ADAMS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 146,110 Turner Dec. 30, 1873 243,617 Porter June 28, 1881 633,012 Kidd et a1. Sept. 12, 1899 890,693 McCoy June 16, 1908 1,196,731 Clark Aug. 29, 1916 1,299,827 Edwards Apr. 8, 1919 1,616,870 Rotthouse Feb. 8, 1927 1,683,526 Campbell Sept. 4, 1928 1,771,782 Gese July 29, 1930 2,164,061 Githens et al June 27, 1939 

